2S3 Akatsiya
' SO-152' is a Soviet 152.4mm self-propelled artillery developed in 1968. It was a response to the American 155mm M109. The development started in 1967 according to the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of USSR from 4 July, 1967. In 1968, the SO-152 was completed and in 1971 entered service. Its GRAU designation is 2S3. The fighting vehicle also received the additional designation Akatsiya, which is Russian for acacia. Description Designated M1973 by the US Army, the Akatsiya is armed with a 152.4mm howitzer based on the Soviet 152.4mm D-20 howizer and is sometimes confused with the M109 self-propelled artillery. The artillery system was developed at the design bureau No. 9 of Kalinin Machine-Building Plant in Sverdlovsk. The factory designation of the howitzer is D-22 and the GRAU designation, 2A33. The chassis was developed by Uraltransmash. Driver's and engine compartments are located in a front part of the hull, the fighting compartment and rotary turret in the middle and rear parts of the hull. The armor is welded rolled steel. The howitzer is equipped wiht a R-123 radio set, R-124 intercom, automatic NBC system with filtration unit and fire-fighting equipment. The V-59 12-cylinder four-stroke water-cooled diesel engine connects with a mechanical twin gear transmission, a gear box with a planetary steering gear. The 2S3 has self-entrenching equipment which allows it to prepare a trench within 20-40 min. The crew consists of 4-6 men: a driver, a gunner, a loader, a commander, and two ammunition bearers, which are positioned to the rear of the vehicle feeding rounds through two hatches in the hull rear when in masked firing position. Armament The 152.4mm L/27 howitzer D-22 (2A33) can be elevated from -4 to +60 degrees with a turret traverse of a full 360 degrees. The rate of fire is 2.6-3.5 rounds/min depending on fire conditions. The howitzer is equipped with a double-baffle muzzle brake, a semi-automatic vertical wedge breechblock and an ejector. The 2S3 has a periscopic sight and telescopic sight of direct pointing. The howitzer has seperate type of loading with ammunition arranged in two mechanized stowages. The Akatsiya can fire OF-540 and OF-25 HE-Frag 43.56 kg projectiles at a maximum range of 18.5 km depending on the charge used or rocket assist. The secondary armament consists of a remote-controlled 7.62 PKT tank machine gun on the commander's cupola for anti-aircraft defense and self-defense in close combat. Service and combat history Former USSR The 2S3 was intended for inventory of artillery regiments of Soviet tank and motor rifle divisions. At first only one gun battalion of each artillery regiment was equipped with the Akatsiya. By the end of the 1980s however, self-propelled artillery regiments of Soviet first echelon tank and motor rifle divisions each had 36 or 54 self-propelled howitzers of this type (2 or 3 gun battalions). So for example the following artillery regiments all had 54 Akatsiya on their strength: *96th self-propelled Artillery Regiment (stationed in Borna) of 9th Tank Division *724th Guards Warsaw self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 16th Guards Tank Division *400th Red Banner Transylvania self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 90th Guards Tank Division *1054th Red Banner self-propelled artillery regiment of 21st motor rifle division *944th Guards Red Banner Chernovtsy-Gniezno self propelled Artillery Regiment of 20th Guards motor rifle division. *283th Red Banner Warsaw self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 35th motor rifle division. *87th Guards Red Banner Poznan self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 94th Guards motor rifle division *199th Guards Red Banner Brandenburg self-propelled regiment of 94th Guards motor rifle division *693rd Red Banner self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 207th motor rifle division While the regiments below only had 36 Akatsiya: *744th Guards Ternopol self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 10th Guards Tank Division *841st Guards Red Banner Chernovtsy self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 11th Tank Division *117th self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 12th Guards Tank Division (actually had 34) *99th Guards Red Banner Pomerania self-propelled regiment of 47th Guards Tank Division *172nd Guards Red Banner Berlin self-propelled Artillery Regiment of 79th Guards Tank Division And the 286th Guards Red Banner Prague howitzer Artillery Brigade stationed in Potsdam was equipped with no less than 72 Akatsiya. Russia In 2007 the Russian Army- had 1,002 2S3 in active service and more than 1,000 in storage and the Russian Navy (marines) had 400 2S3 in active service and more than 600 in storage. As of now the Akatsiya are used by the following units of the Russian Arm or are stationed in the following bases (incomplete list): *200th separate motor rifle brigade from Pechenga which is a part of the Leningrad Military District (36 Akatsiya) *138th separate motor rifle brigade from Kamenka (near Vyborg) which is a part of the Leningrad Military District (36 Akatsiya) *2nd Guards Taman motor rifle division from Alabino (near Moscow) which is a part of the Moscow Military District (96 Akatsiya in 3 motor rifle regiments and 1 tank regiment) *3rd Sormovo motor rifle division from Mulino (near Nizhny Novgorod) which is a part of the Moscow Military District (96 Akatsiya in 2 motor rifle divisions and 2 tank regiments) *4th Guards Kantemirovka tank division from Naro-Fominsk which is a part of the Moscow Military District (95 Akatsiya in 3 tank regiments and 1 motor rifle regiment) *10th Guards Ural-Lvov tank division from Boguchar (Voronezh Oblast) which is a part of the Moscow Military District (75 Akatsiya in 2 tank regiments and 1 motor rifle division) *81st separate motor rifle regiment from Samara which is a part of the Volga-Ural Military District (25 Akatsiya) *27th Guards motor rifle division from Totskoye which is a part of the Volga-Ural Military District (73 Akatsiya in 2 motor rifle regiments and 1 tank regiment) *19th Red Banner Voronexh-Shumlin motor rifle division from Vladikavkaz which is a part of the North Caucasus Military District (16 Akatsiya in 3 motor rifle divisions) *205th separate motor rifle cossack brigade from Budyonnovsk which is a part of the North Caucasus Military District (12 Akatsiya) *136th Guards Uman-Berlin separate motor rifle brigade from Buynaksk (Dagestan) whihc is a part of the North Caucasus Military District *131st separate motor rifle brigade from Maykop which is part of the North Caucasus Military District (12 Akatsiya) *33rd separate motor rifle regiment from Prudhoy which is a part of the North Caucasus Military District (12 Akatsiya) *two arsenals of Central Command in Perm (91 Akatsiya) *The 8th motor rifle brigade from Tiraspol (Russian operative roup in Transnistria) has 36 Akatsiya. As of now the Akatsiya are used by the following units of the Russian Navy or are stationed in the following bases (incomplete list): *385th storage in Lugovoe (near Kaliningrad) which belong to the Baltic Fleet (24 Akatsiya) *storage in Gusev which belonged to the Baltic Fleet (31 Akatsiya) *55th Marine division from Vladivostok which belong to the Pacific Fleet All the equipment of 817th self-propelled artillery regiment of 62nd Russian military base of the North Caucausus Military District was withdrawn from Akhalkkalaki, Georgia in 2006 accroding to the Russian-Georgian Sochi agreement, the regiment had 30 Akatsiya and it had planned to relocate some of its self-propelled artillery to 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri, Armenia. At the moment the 2S3 is considered as outdated because of insufficient range of fire in comparison with modern self-propelled artillery. The modernized variant 2S3 armed with a new 155mm M-385 howitzer was developmed in 2000 and 2 gun battalions of the Russian Army (including one of the 2nd Taman motor rifle division) have been re-equipped with the 2S3M3 in 2006. Category:Soviet Military Category:Weapons Category:Soviet Army